Archive for November 21st, 2018

Croatian Navy warships have to be towed around like junk. Two missile gunboats had to be towed into city harbour of Šibenik. Landing ship “Cetina” towed gunboat “Dmitar Zvonimir”, while a towing ship from “Brodospas” (Ship Rescue) towed gunboat “Petar Krešimir IV” to proximity of “Dmitar Zvonimir”. Latter was then towed into shipyard, while the landing ship took over “Petar Krešimir” and towed it away. This is likely a consequence of lack of technical cadre capable of maintaining the ships combined with their overuse in recent exercises and NATO missions. In 2018. alone ships had taken part in more exercises than in several years before combined.

Such situation had already happened three times this year. In one of these incidents, 24.4.2018., missile gunboat “Dmitar Zvonimir” was towed out of the harbour by an even older “Dubrovnik” (“Petar Krešimir”: launched and commissioned 1992., “Dubrovnik”: ex-FNS-63 “Kotka”, launched and commissioned 1986., commissioned to Croatian Navy in 2009.).